DIY Eco Houses That Won’t Drain Your Pocket

You read it right. Earth bags are just what their name suggests: a house made up of sacks filled with dirt or sand.

There’s no need for elaborate plans to construct these homes, since you just pile on the bags to create one big, sturdy wall or structure, then just finish it off with a blast of earth mixture.

This method was adopted from military building techniques, and is, in my opinion, a very reliable and practical way of building homes, because the end product is a quake and blast-proof structure.

And the best thing about this eco-house is that it can be built with just $300!

Build A Cob House

Like an Earth bag House, a Cob House is also made of earth, most specifically mud, straw, and lime.

Ziggy, a member of the Dancing Rabbit Community, was able to build his very own cob house for $3000, because he was able to source key materials such as clay, roof rafters, salvaged windows, and reclaimed urbanite for free!

Convert A Shipping Container Into A House

Shipping containers are one of the most common materials for eco houses.

This is, probably, one of the most popular materials being used for eco-houses, since containers are cheap and readily available.

From just a big bulk of rusting steel, I’ve seen shipping containers transform into modern houses, a mobile office, and even a dooms-day fort.

‘Containers of Hope Project’, for example, converts old containers into small, efficient, and mobile homes for families in the UK.

Benjamin Saxe, an architect behind the project, also made a house out of two 40,000 ft. long container vans. It’s a visual feast with the roofs being raised and the walls replaced with glass.

Dust Off The Old Airstream

It’s time to get those old airstreams out of the garage! Tear out those plastic surfaces and trade them off for lightweight wood or other alternative materials.

Put on more lights and comfortable seating to bring the old and outdated Airstreams into the 21st century.